Fireplace Makeover {Before & After}

Other than painting it all with a fresh coat of paint, my fireplace makeover is FINISHED! I’m THRILLED, okay more like GIDDY!, with how it turned out! I may or may not stare at it several times a day, pinching myself.

Our fireplace before was always a bit of an inconvenience and distraction. The giant unused fireplace hole always created a challenge. While I leaned shutters and mirrors and generally found ways to hide the hole, it really wasn’t ideal for us long term.

The black tile was so shiny and reflective and the gold glitter flecks on the black just gave me a “bachelor pad” vibe rather than the more cottage look I was after.

It looked like a big black galaxy in the middle of our fireplace, distracting everyone from the pretty mantel.

We used an inspiration picture found in this post to come up with a doable but more permanent fix to the giant hole. A simple wood frame built around horizontal white planks created a more interesting backdrop. It will even be prettier once it’s painted, right now it is just primed wood.

The simple molding and trim work in the room (which I will show more of soon!) adds a more cozy cottage vibe and better shows off the beautiful mantel we already had.

A lovely new split face gray and white stacked stone from DalTile (see sources, below) transformed the front of our fireplace. I think it looks amazing!

The black flecked tile and old stained carpet around the fireplace hearth needed to GO!

In came the honed vein-cut limestone tile for the hearth! Framed by our new Mohawk hickory wood flooring, the stone hearth now looks clean, finished and gorgeous! The kitchen/family room is coming together and the fireplace is now a beautiful focal point. You’ll see more of this room makeover in future posts!

Jack is pretty cozy, lounging by the fire on his new doggie bed!

Below is an updated peek at our mantel!

Sources:

The wood is tongue and groove beadboard planks (turned backwards).
Stacked split face stone on fireplace is from DalTile #L757 Arctic Gray 2 x 6″
Limestone hearth #L191 chenille white vein cut honed via DalTile
Our rug is an indoor/outdoor rug from Overstock.
Wood floors by Mohawk.
The mirror is from Restoration Hardware.
The Christmas canvas is from Red Letter Words.
The metal buckets on the mantel were from LuxeYard.
The basket is from World Market.
The pillow on the chair is from Target.
The chair is a rattan chair of unknown origins.
The topiary is from Holly Mathis Interiors.
The dog bed was from Joss & Main.Jack the Goldendoodle is from a farm in Newberg, Oregon.

Whoa, hold on! HOW did you put the new tile on- right over the old? We have UGLY brown/black granite tiles on our fireplace and yes, bachelor pad vibes hits it on the head! I would love a fieldstone look. All that to say- beautiful!!!!!

I find myself wanting to pull a 21st century Mary Poppins and jump right into my phone so I can end up in your “new” home! You are convincing me that I like gray. A lot. So glad you are soaking up your new space!

Gosh, this looks amazing!!! What a transformation!! I have brick all the way to the ceiling on my fireplace (cathedral ceiling at that!) I wonder if planking over it would be a possibility?! Would definitely be a nice way to give more of a cottage feel to my space as well!! Oh dear, another great idea of yours to ponder!! Thanks for sharing!!

The look you pursued back in the conceptualizing phase has been captured. That of cottage by the sea: the grays and blues with white, and the good contemporary designs, with spots of darks for anchoring and spots of loved things for joy and thankfulness, it’s restful, inviting, calming, and very lovely. Back-to-back meetings–oh my! I’m glad you have beauty to come home to, Melissa! Best Christmas wishes to you! P.S. I’ve found an old kitchen cupboard door, windowless, that is going to be painted antique white, the color of our wood molding, and placed on the “Christmas shelf.” The idea of the height and interest I expect it will add has been gleaned from your photos of your mantel, am quite eager to see the transformation at Christmas with our family treasures nearby!

Melissa, beautiful beautiful beautiful!! If Jack wasn’t in that first photo I would have thought it was your inspiration photo from a magazine! I love the tiles you chose and the planked wood is perfection! So pretty.

What a transformation. Seriously. The detail in this fireplace project is incredible. That is what impresses me the most. How you took so many elements, put them together, and created a look that was effortless and seamless. It doesn’t look like it is trying too hard, and it could have easily slipped over into that category. Your before picture helps. It was so impressively bad. I think your careful planning made all the difference. Good example for us overeager decorators.

LOVE!!! You never cease to amaze with you wonderful details and selections!!!! :) I noted the new tile went over the old.. any prep tricks, especially since the old tile was polished? Wondering how I could make this work.. Does the new tile butt to the wood mantel? And is the edge at the fireplace insert cut tiles? Wondering how they finish the edges..? Love also the mix of tiles and wood finishes, complimentary and gorgeous.

I had a tile person do the tile for me and he said it was fine to go right over the top of the old tile. Otherwise we would have had to rip out face tile which would have meant basically taking off the entire mantel — a real pain. Just to be safe, he put a brace under all the stone overnight after the work was done so it would dry without slipping at all. The new stone goes right up to the wood of the mantel and around the fireplace insert, no caulking or grout or trim at all. You can see the edges around the fireplace insert so they are not finished but it is fine because they are stone so the rough edges fit right in to the look. I still need to paint the mantel so it will look even better once everything is all painted and pretty.

The hearth tile was removed in order for the new limestone tile to be set flush with the floor, as I didn’t want it to stick up at all.

The stone was apparently not easy to cut (it would break and crumble and he’d have to redo pieces) so that is just an FYI for any DIY’ers :-)

Wow — the after is amazing. It looks so custom and like it was made for your home. I love how the wood frames the hearth, too. A gorgeous detail that gives such an intentional look. I’m so happy for you!

Amazing and lovely! I love the stacked limestone! I have been eying the same stuff for a while. However, I do not think it will go well with where I wish to place it. :(

I know you sit and stare at your fireplace now. I would. ;) Wonderful and beautiful transformation. I can very much appreciate all the hard work that went in to it. My husband and I did a fireplace makeover last month and were pleased with the results.

Hi Melissa, love that you included the before photo because it demonstrates even more how major the transformation is. Lovely! Your picture looks like it’s straight out of a magazine. Beautiful light and styling.

The room colors are so soothing and coordinated too. I like the area rug and never considered Overstock. Thanks for including a source list. I’ve heard of that site before, now I’ll have to investigate it futher.

Jack is adorable too and doing his part as the room’s cutest accessory.

Is there a way to actually print the pics as photos? I only seem to be able to copy the webpage …. would love to put it in my ‘fireplace inspirations’ and I cannot get it to print as a pic. Any ideas? LOVE LOVE LOVE the design!

Hi Melissa, I have been following your blog for sometime now. We are in the process of building a new home. We are entering our retirement years and my overall mantra is ‘low maintenance’ and ‘handicap accessible’ as well as timeless. I LOVE your fireplace, and certainly feel it is timeless. But I do wonder if the white brick requires any special cleaning to keep it looking like new. I’d love to hear from you on this. Thanks for your ‘Inspiring Room’ as it has certainly been my inspiration! Gloria Weller

Hi Gloria! Our fireplace hasn’t needed any cleaning at all. We have a gas fireplace, so that might help keep it cleaner, I’m not sure. But it’s been wonderful! Thanks, good luck with your new home! Enjoy!

Love!! How did you attach the boards above the fireplace mantle? Nails, wood glue? I don’t have the large cut out but am planning to do a refresh on my fireplace like this and am wondering if I need to consider the wall behind the fireplace before nailing anything in?? Also, is the wood frame around the planks the same type of beadboard turned backwards and vertical, or did you use something different?

Welcome! I'm Melissa Michaels. I created The Inspired Room in 2007 to inspire women to fall in love with the home they have. Ten years later, I'm still here doing my thing and loving every minute of it. I'm so glad YOU are here!